Placed

Providing a new outlet for Appalachian Basin gas production, Duke Energy Gas Transmission’s (DEGT) East Tennessee Natural Gas LLC (ETNG) placed into service its 32-mile Jewell Ridge pipeline project, which will transport up to 235,000 Dth/d of production from CNX Gas Corp. and other Appalachian natural gas producers to customers in the growing southeastern and Mid Atlantic markets.

Egan Hub Storage LLC, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, has informed FERC that it has placed in service 5.5 Bcf of additional capacity at its natural gas storage facility in Acadia Parish, LA. The new capacity is about half of the total capacity that was authorized for a third cavern in an April 2003 order [CP03-12). That order granted Egan Hub certificate authority to boost the capacity of a third salt dome storage cavern to 10.5 Bcf, raising the maximum aggregate operating capacity of its storage field to 31.5 Bcf, of which 24 Bcf would be working gas. The April 2003 decision, which was amended in July, extends the deadline to allow Egan to have the remaining storage capacity of the third cavern (5 Bcf) in service by Oct. 1, 2009. Duke Energy subsidiary Market Hub Partners (MHP) owns Egan Hub, which has 16 Bcf of existing storage capacity. MHP also owns and operates the Moss Bluff, TX salt dome, which has 16 Bcf of working gas capacity as well.

Egan Hub Storage LLC, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Gas Transmission, informed FERC on Monday that it has placed in service 5.5 Bcf of additional capacity at its natural gas storage facility in Acadia Parish, LA.

El Paso Corp. said it placed its West Cameron 75 and 62 new-field discoveries online, adding 52 MMcfe/d (20 MMcfe/d net to El Paso’s interest) to the market. The fields are located about 12 miles offshore of Cameron, LA, in 32 feet of water.

Moody’s Investors Service last week placed El Paso Corp. and its subsidiaries under review for a possible upgrade, reflecting the possibility the Houston-based company will reduce more of its debt in the near future than previously expected and because there are “signs of recovery” within its revamped exploration and production operations.

Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday placed El Paso Corp. and its subsidiaries under review for a possible upgrade, reflecting the possibility it will reduce more of its debt in the near future than previously expected and because there are “signs of recovery” in its exploration and production operations.

Despite improved fourth-quarter earnings results reported earlier in the week, Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. was placed on “CreditWatch with Negative implications” by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, noting the company’s signing of a confidentiality agreement with NorthWestern Corp. as the trigger. Black Hills’ credit rating remains the same (BBB-).

Moody’s Investors Service Monday placed the ratings for Dominion Resources, Inc. and its principal subsidiaries, Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO) and Consolidated Natural Gas Company (CNG), on review for possible downgrade, citing weaker than expected recent financial performance and a higher degree of risk than most utilities due to its E&P operations, its non-regulated merchant generation business and a sizeable commodity risk management business.

If gas production shut-ins from damaged facilities due to Hurricane Katrina continue into the coming winter, significant stress could be placed on the market and prices almost certainly would be pressured even higher. However, the market might finally get some help from a source that has been in surprisingly short supply so far this summer: liquefied natural gas (LNG).